Guides

7 Deadlock pages in Guides.

• Beginner's GuideTo play Deadlock well from your first match, farm souls from trooper waves and orbs, deny the enemy's orbs, parry heavy melee, follow the shop's builds, spend Ability Points on your main damage ability, and turn every won fight into an objective. Deadlock is Valve's invite-only playtest, and these rules are as of Valve's Oct 14, 2026 patch.
• Best Heroes for BeginnersSeven is the Deadlock hero outlets most often recommend to new players, with Victor, Ivy, McGinnis, Abrams and Infernus also named; Seven and Victor also win about 54% to 55% of matches in deadlock-api's Oct 2026 data, low ranks included. Outlets say to leave Celeste, The Doorman, Lash, Yamato, Paradox and Viscous until later.
• Builds and ItemizationA Deadlock build is the order of items a hero buys with souls: gun builds stack Weapon items, spirit builds stack Spirit items, and every hero adds Vitality. Investment bonuses jump once 4,800 souls are spent in a category, and builds change to counter the enemy team.
• Counter ItemsDeadlock's counter items answer specific threats: Healbane, Toxic Bullets, Decay, Inhibitor, Crippling Headshot and Spirit Burn cut enemy healing; Dispel Magic, Divine Barrier, Unstoppable and Indomitable answer stuns and debuffs; Knockdown, Silencer, Cursed Relic and Disarming Hex shut heroes down.
• Hero Tier ListIn Deadlock's October 2026 meta, Graves and Rat King have the highest measured win rates (about 55% in Ranked, deadlock-api, Oct 15 to Oct 26, 2026), while outlet tier lists disagree: Dexerto's top tier (Oct 9) includes Abrams, Haze, Yamato, Victor, Billy, Graves and Celeste, and Mobalytics' expert list (Oct 22) puts Baba, Celeste, Rem and Nurse Harrow on top.
• Laning GuideIn Deadlock's lane phase, two heroes share each of three lanes, farm trooper waves that come every 25 seconds, shoot the soul orb that flies up from each dying trooper to secure it (or your own trooper's orb, to deny it), and pick up the ground orb that holds the other half. Trade with abilities, stay away from the enemy Guardian early, and leave lane to farm camps once the wave is pushed, usually around 5 to 10 minutes.
• Macro and RotationsDeadlock's mid game is won by turning every won fight into an objective, keeping your lanes pushed before you rotate, farming camps between waves, and timing the shared objectives: the Unstable Rift about every 7 minutes, the Soul Urn at 10 minutes and every 5 after, and the Mid-Boss, which deadlock-api's Oct 2026 data shows first falling at about 28 minutes.

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